Off to the Races
by Urban Red Fox
Summary: Some say she's insane while she says her previous boss wants to see her dead. The only thing John knows for sure is that they have to protect her at all costs. - John/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 - Insane is just a word**

Adriana only woke up when a large, disgustingly sweaty hand was clamped tight over her mouth. She opened her eyes and instinctively grabbed the hairy forearm of the attacker that hovered over her in the white scrubs nurses usually wore. There was no way she could get out of the man's hold without pushing his arm away but he was obviously stronger than her. She glanced at the door out of the corner of her eye only to see the lightless hallway with no sign of people outside.

She was alone with this man who was trying to kill her, forced to think quick even with the reduced level of oxygen her system got with each second. If she could somehow get out of the bed it wouldn't be all that hard to stop him. The man wasn't muscular, he was simply overweight - this is why not only his hand but his face was sweating like crazy as well. Adriana let her nails dig into his skin, forcing them deep enough to shed his blood and make him yelp in pain.

Since he wasn't concentrating on keeping her down that hard anymore, Adriana kneed his side as hard as she could, and once he stumbled back, she rolled down to the ground on the other side of the bed. The door wasn't all that far, she could make it there in no time, but she could barely step out of the room before the man grabbed her neck and slammed her straight into the wall.

Her throat was burning but she resisted the urge to yell for help. No one would come and the less she struggled the sooner she could get rid of him. Adriana put her right hand on the wall, her nail scratching the dirty white surface to get his attention for a second so she could punch him in the neck with her left elbow. Just as she expected, he loosened his grip and she quickly maneuvered behind him and put her hands firmly on the back of his neck and his chin. One quick movement, there was no turning back now.

His neck broke and he fell on the floor like a ragdoll.

Adriana let out a long sigh, closing her eyes for a moment before she reached down to check his pockets. No IDs could be found but she wasn't surprised. She shrugged and slowly walked out to the nurse station, wiping her bleeding nose with her wrist on the way. The two women behind the desk gave her a weird and equally shocked look as she put her elbows on the wooden surface. "Yeah, hey, you know, there might be a big dead guy in front of my door and I can't really sleep knowing there's rotting a corpse out there," she said with a wide grin.

"A dead man?" asked one of the nurses.

"Yes, a pretty big one."

They looked at each other before rushing there to see it themselves, one of them even grabbing her phone to call the police. Adriana rested her forehead on the desk and let out a tired sigh.

"Miss Norton," said a man who had just stepped out of a room not far from where she stood, his voice echoing between the walls. "Can you tell us how he died?"

As he walked closer, Adriana noticed the syringe in his hand. He didn't even try to hide it from her. It was a trap. There was no way out. Panic rose inside her as she started to back away from him. "This is how they want to get rid of me for good?" she asked. "Sending a big guy to kill me in my sleep?"

"Nobody wants to kill you, Miss Norton, we have already discussed that."

"Oh, they do, Doc, trust me. This is the only reason why I'm in he-" She stopped when her back bumped against someone and the said person grabbed her arms to keep her in place. "Let me go!" The doctor didn't listen, though, just raised the syringe and tried to calm her down. "PUT THAT THING AWAY, YOU SON OF A BITCH! I'M NOT CRAZY, LET ME GO!"

* * *

"I can't believe that this woman could bring down a guy his size, that's all I'm saying," a man stated in a harsh whisper next to her bed.

"It's possible with the right technique, John," another replied. "You should know that."

"Thanks for waking me up," Adriana growled as she opened her eyes and sat up.

Her head hurt and her vision was a bit blurry but other than that, she was perfectly fine; well, at least she was better than the man who had attacked her the night before. Glancing at the man on her left, she noticed the gun holster he wore under his jacket. Cop. Great. Then she turned to look at the other one, but this time her lips formed an amused smile.

"Wow, a DRN. It's been a while since I last heard about them."

"Miss Norton," the man next to her spoke up, "I'm Detective John Kennex and he's Dorian. We need to ask you a few questions about the death of John Donahue."

Adriana let out a heartfelt laugh upon hearing the name. "John Donahue? Seriously? They didn't even try this time."

Kennex glanced at his partner for a second before asking, "What are you talking about?"

"What I'm talking about is that the guy's name is definitely not John Donahue," she replied. How could they be that stupid? John Donahue was a John Doe, simple as that. They used some poor troubled guy who was supposed to get a lot of money for doing them a favor. "First of all, he doesn't work here."

"Yesterday was his first day here," the DRN informed her, "maybe you hadn't met him yet."

She turned to him with a skeptic look on her face. "And he tried to kill me right away?"

Dorian furrowed his eyebrows as he glanced at his partner for a second. "We didn't find any evidence for that."

"Yeah, I guess the security cameras didn't work around that time. What a surprise. This is how they roll, Detectives," Adriana said with a shrug.

"Who are _they_?" asked Kennex.

"My previous employers," she replied without missing a beat.

She looked back at the DRN whose face was now full of bright blue lights. "According to your files you worked as a personal shopper before you were hospitalized," he stated after his blue eyes fell on her.

"Sure, I was a personal shopper. They definitely know how to break someone's neck," Adriana went on with an arrogant smile. "Actually, now that you've mentioned, this is the first thing they learn on the job. You know, it's an essential skill so you they can grab that one Prada bag th-"

"Cut the sarcasm," Detective Kennex interrupted her angrily, putting a hand on the bed next to her head so he could steady himself as he leaned down.

"Oh, trust me, I haven't even started."

"You really are crazy, aren't you?"

The DRN by the window cleared his throat. "John, don't."

"Listen to me, Detective," she said, completely ignoring the fact she was talking to a cop, "I'm not crazy."

"Yet here you are as a patient of a psychiatric institute," Kennex replied with a malicious smile.

"This is what happens when someone tries to get you out of the way," she hissed.

"You are clinically insane, Miss Norton."

"John, I'm serious, it's time to leave," the DRN warned him, but he didn't listen.

Adriana heard him walk out of the room, so she took the opportunity to go on, looking right into his hazel eyes. "Am I, Detective Kennex? Have you ever been locked up in a place like this against your own free will? Even if you arrive perfectly sane, you'll end up being just as crazy as everyone else. There's no escape."

"I read your files while you were knocked out. You are everything but sane."

"I killed that guy, yes, but only after he attacked me. You know what? Don't believe me. It's easier for all of you, believing I was only hallucinating. But do me a favor and find Angry Kenny Lexington for me."

Kennex straightened up with a confused expression. "Who?"

Before she could answer her doctor marched in with the DRN right behind. "Alright, Detective, that's enough," he said. "Miss Norton is obviously under the effect of the tranquilizer we gave her last night. Let her sleep it off then you can talk to her again."

The detective looked at him but eventually let out a sigh and put up his hands in defeat. "Alright, as you wish," he said before they turned to leave.

"Just find him!" Adriana yelled after them.

* * *

**I'm so in love with Almost Human and John that I couldn't resist. Tell me what you think so far, I love reading reviews! :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2 - Help me, help you**

On the next day, soon after noon, an MX appeared with an older detective, showing the good doctor a court order to release Adriana. She was sitting cross-legged on her bed, looking up at the man with a cheeky grin as he glanced down at her with a frown. There was nothing she could say to him and he didn't feel like talking to her either. Even after what had happened they had no other choice but to let a supposedly dangerous and mentally unstable patient out. Not like she could care about the doctor's opinion when she was about to leave that hellhole for good.

A nurse came in with her belongings, a pair of old jeans, a white shirt and her favorite pair of converse shoes. That was all; she had nothing left apart from these clothes and her purse. Excusing herself, Adriana went to the nurses' changing room to get dressed and do something with her hair to look presentable before the detective and his android took her to the precinct to meet the captain.

When her eyes fell on her form in the mirror, she took a step back. It had been a while since she last wore normal street clothes and with these on it become clear the time here had a terrible effect on her. First of all, she had lost weight. Alright, it wasn't the end of the world. Then, when she leaned forward, she noticed the lack of brightness in her blue eyes. Now this little detail drew an annoyed sigh out of her because if there was one thing she liked about herself it was her eye color.

"Let's do this," she told herself before she returned to the others.

No one said a word on the way there but she didn't mind the silence.

With the _visitor_ pass clipped on her shirt, Adriana followed the detective upstairs, thinking about how Detective Kennex would react. He would probably be angry, especially after they previous conversation when he had called her clinically insane. She wasn't angry, though, because it was perfectly understandable and she kinda liked him. With the medication she had been on for a year now her behavior was incredibly far from normal.

After the elevator's door opened, she noticed an older woman standing there, nodding to the detective who immediately left with the MX. "Miss Norton, I'm Captain Maldonado," she introduced herself with an extended hand.

Adriana hesitated but finally gave in and took it. "It's nice to meet you."

"Your anonymous friend has really good connections, you know," she said as they walked across the area, possibly heading to her office. "My people have only talked to you yesterday morning but we have already got a package with your name on it."

She had no idea what kind of package the Captain was talking about but she decided to let it go for now, just as she wasn't planning on telling the woman about her friend. Out of the corner of her eye Adriana noticed the MXs who were standing by the walls, watching everything and everyone like security cameras. Even though the building seemed to be secure, she wasn't convinced that it would be true under special circumstances as well.

Stepping inside the spacious office, the two men sitting in front of the Captain's desk turned their heads in the women's direction. "You've gotta be kidding me," Kennex growled.

"Please, keep it to yourself, John," the Captain warned him as she occupied her place behind the desk and folded her hands on top of it. "This morning we got a package addressed to her along with a message, saying there's a court order to release Miss Norton from the institute. Also, the anonymous sender asked me to make sure she is safe from whoever is trying to kill her until they find a way to stop them."

The DRN looked over at Adriana but remained silent.

"Sandra, she made the whole thing up and you know that," Kennex spoke up, completely ignoring the woman who stood only a few steps away from him.

She let out a long sigh and reached for the package on the edge of the desk. After all, it was hers, so after sitting on the floor with her back against the wall, Adriana opened it. There was cash, which was good, along with a fake ID, a matching credit card and a cell phone with a secured line. The edge of her lip turned into a satisfied smirk before she found a couple of small metal boxes. "Oh, look, my real meds!" she yelled happily, holding up a box.

The detective bit his lip as he shook his head. "She's seriously out of her mind."

"Not according to her file," Maldonado informed him.

Adriana looked up, but before she could speak up, the DRN whose name she still didn't know asked, "What file? We didn't find anything."

"It came with everything else."

"Angry Kenny," Adriana told them in a sing-song voice, looking directly at the already angry Kennox. She was happy to see him suffer.

"You just made that up," he told her harshly. "We found absolutely nothing."

Standing up with the phone in her hand, she walked over to the Captain, making sure she could ruffle the grumpy detective's dark hair. "Trust me, you did. But what can I say? I have friends in holy places," she added with a smile.

Before the man could reply, Maldonado cleared her throat. "Said person also sent us a message saying it will take her a few days to get back to normal," she said calmly.

"She has a normal mode?" Kennex huffed.

"John," his partner warned him. Adriana remembered their visit in the institute, how the DRN tried to stop him from getting into a childish fight with her. It was cute, really, the two of them getting along so well.

Long seconds had passed in complete silence since they were all waiting for something. It was Adriana who decided to talk and she started by sitting on the edge of the desk next to her new favorite detective. "By the way, Detective Kennex, I think it's time for a proper introduction. I'm Lieutenant Colonel Adriana Norton, ex-special ops officer," she said happily.

"Bullshit."

"It's true, John," Maldonado assured him. "It was also in the file we got, I just wanted her to bring it up herself."

Followed by the doubtful look of the detective, Adriana walked to the door. "Now if you don't mind, I have to make a call," she said before she stepped out, not giving them the chance to stop her. Once outside, she called the only number that was saved on the device, waiting until someone answered on the other end of the line. "Nice job, Kenneth."

"You owe me an explanation, Adriana," the man said. "But until then, try to stay under the radar, okay?"

"Sure, whatever," she replied with a roll of her eyes.

The man let out a frustrated sigh and she could see him rubbing his usually unshaven face in annoyance. "I'm serious. At least wait until your meds start working."

She agreed, said goodbye and put the phone in her pocket. Staying under the radar, as he had ordered, seemed to be a piece of cake. On the other hand she knew things weren't that easy in real life.

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**Whoa, I wasn't expecting you guys to like it, but I'm glad you did! Sorry for the extremely short chapter but I have an awful lot of things to do now. The chapters might be short for a while, until I can catch my breath. Anyway, keep the reviews coming, I love reading them.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3 - No choice**

"You left your package in the office."

John dropped the box on the desk Adriana was sitting on but she didn't even flinch when it landed with a loud thud. She turned to the detective who looked down at her with furrowed eyebrows. "Thanks," she said. "So, what are we going to do now?"

The man's only reaction was a loud laugh as he sat down behind his desk and folded his hands behind his neck. "With an invisible and possibly non-existent enemy?" John asked sardonically. "Absolutely nothing," he added.

"Great. Then I'll just go and find a hotel or something," Adriana said while she hopped off the desk and picked up the box. After nodding to the DRN, she turned back to the detective. "Thanks for whatever you did."

"Whoa, stop," John called after the young woman who was now heading to the elevator. She turned back with a questioning look, not expecting him to say anything. "You're not going anywhere."

"Excuse me?"

"Captain Maldonado ordered us to keep an eye on you in the next three or four days."

Adriana took a deep breath and walked back to him, the box ending up on the floor so she could put her palms on his desk and lean closer. For a few seconds she looked into his eyes, trying to figure out if he was lying or not, but, in the end, she came to the conclusion it was true. "No," she said seriously.

"My thoughts exactly, but there's nothing I can do."

She wasn't happy about it but at least there was finally something she and Detective Kennex agreed on. Giving up the fight, she sank on the nearest chair and shifted her gaze back and forth between the two men. "So you two will stay in the hotel with me or what?"

"No, she told me to let you stay in the spare room in my apartment," John replied with a grunt.

"There's no way. I'm not going there, Detective," she stated without hesitation. Kennex hated her and she hated him just as much. Making them living at the same place, even if that was only for a couple of days, was one of the worst ideas she had ever heard. "Let's just tell Captain Maldonado I stay there while I go somewhere else," she offered.

The DRN quickly shook his head. "We can't do that."

"You've gotta be kidding me. What's you name again? Sorry, I forgot."

"Dorian," he replied.

Adriana nodded and leaned back in the chair. She had no problem with bots most of the time, but right now she was talking to him as she would talk to another human being in a situation like this. "Look, Dorian, she doesn't have to know," she explained her plan. "I'm a big girl and I can take care of myself."

"Whoever is helping you probably knows you well enough therefore if they say you'll not be entirely yourself for a few days, we believe them," he insisted.

"My answer is still no," she told John.

"Trust me," the detective started after he glanced at his partner out of the corner of his eye, "I don't like the idea of you staying at my place either but there's nothing I could do."

When Adriana thought it couldn't get any worse, Dorian spoke up. "Also you'll stay with us during our shifts as well," he announced.

"No."

"You have no choice."

She looked back at John but he only shrugged. Spending entire days in the car with these two sounded even worse than an average day back in the institute among every single insane patient. Adriana didn't want it, none of it, not even an hour in a car with them, but if she had no other choice there was nothing to do. Or maybe there was one thing: running away. Jumping out of the car when they stop for a second and running away without looking back.

Of course she would possibly have to spend the rest of her life hiding from the cops and her old boss but it was somehow worth the risk. Running a hand through her hair she glanced at Dorian and John. They probably wouldn't mind it. Okay, maybe Dorian, but John might even stop him. She made the final decision and smiled at them, but before she could say anything John spoke up.

"Don't even think about it," he told her darkly.

"I didn't say anything."

"You didn't have to."

Adriana whistled as she stood up and stretched her arms above her head. "So now you know me that well?" she asked with a malicious smile.

"Alright, why don't you two stop this so we can go and get you some noodles?" Dorian asked, stepping between the two of them after John decided to stand up as well.

"Noodles?" Adriana asked with a confused look.

Putting up a hand, John turned to his partner. "Don't start it, Dorian, I don't have a problem."

"You _do_ have a problem."

"What are you two talking about?"

Dorian shrugged with a smug smirk on his face. "John's addicted to noodles."

"I'm not," he growled.

"How can anyone be addicted to noodles?"

"No one can be addicted to noodles," John replied harshly, "now shut up, both of you."

Adriana still couldn't believe it. The big bad detective was secretly addicted to noodles and even though he tried to deny it, she trusted the DRN more than him when it came to something like this. It's not that a bot couldn't lie but Dorian seemed to be someone who annoyed John whenever he could. She looked around and moved a bit closer to Dorian. "Is he always like this when he doesn't get his daily dose?"

"Usually," he replied with a wide grin.

"I can't deal with you two."

John grabbed his jacket and started walking towards the elevator. Adriana and Dorian exchanged surprised looks but followed him anyway. "Oh my God, I'm so sorry we disappoint you, Mr. I'm-Oh-So-Perfect," she told him.

"Do you know what would be good? If you could shut your mouth for a while," he said angrily when he turned around and pointed a forefinger at her. "Trust me, I'm not happy with this babysitting thing either."

For a moment she chewed her lower lip but then shrugged and changed the topic. She didn't want to get into another stupid and meaningless fight with him, not when some people were watching them. "Look, I'll need to buy some clothes. Can we stop somewhere?"

"Only after we ate," John replied.

"Sure."

"Another good excuse for you to avoid working," Dorian said with a laugh.

"I'm not avoiding anything, Dorian."

The DRN turned to the woman who was still standing next to him. "Trust me, he does," he whispered.

"If you two will keep talking like this on the way I'll just throw both of you out of the car," John warned them before he turned around and walked away again.

Adriana shook her head. "I don't even know how you can deal with this guy on a daily basis," she told Dorian who only shrugged in response.

"I heard that!" John called back.

* * *

**Thank you for the amazing reviews! Sorry for the short and "filler" chapter but I have essays to write and exams to study for so I'm kind of a mess right now. Plus I wanted something nice before things turn serious.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4 - Crazy or not...**

"How did you end up in this situation?"

Adriana let out a questioning hum through the toothbrush in her mouth as she stepped out of the bathroom. It was 7:26 in the morning and John had been bugging her about getting ready in the last fifteen minutes. Now it was him who asked a question over the cup of coffee he was drinking, ignoring the fact she was finally doing what he wanted. Shrugging in response, the woman turned around and let the door close behind her.

Less than ten minutes later she threw her bag on the kitchen counter with a satisfied grin on her face. "I told you it wouldn't take me an hour. Ready?" Adriana asked while she turned around and took her pills with a glass of water. "John?" The man finally looked at her, obviously unaware of her previous question. "Can we go?" she repeated.

"You haven't answered my question."

It had taken her a second to realize what question he was talking about. "It's irrelevant."

John let out an irritated sigh before he stood up and walked over to her, glancing down with narrowed eyes. "No, it's not," he told her.

"It is for now," Adriana retorted. "But I'll tell you, I promise."

Finally John put up his hands in defeat and they headed to the door without saying another word. Once outside on the hallway, Adriana glanced back, her eyes looking for the places where she had hidden security cameras in the middle of the night. The day before, when John and Dorian had taken her shopping, she ordered a few things online and collected them along with the clothing items.

She thought they were heading to the precinct to pick up Dorian, but John, after bugging her to get ready, decided to stop for breakfast, not even hurrying to be there on time. It was already around ten when the DRN sat in the passenger's seat and she had no other choice but to listen to their almost passive-aggressive conversation until they had to go to a crime scene.

Before they could even enter the building, though, someone said, "Captain Maldonado wants to see you."

Adriana turned to look at the MX that stopped not far from them. "First, good morning," she informed him with her arms crossed over her chest. "Second, I'll go in later."

"She wants me to take you back to the precinct now," he insisted.

John not-so-lightly pushed her towards the bot with a malicious grin on his face. "Go, at least we can do our job without you whining," he told her when she grabbed his wrist and gave him a hard look.

"I'm not whining."

"Yes, you are."

There was no way she could come out of this argument as a winner so she agreed and followed the MX to the car. Why Maldonado wanted to see her, she had no idea, and asking the bot didn't help either. I don't know, he replied without even looking at her. At this point, she gave up. Adriana glanced down at her hand and noticed that her hands were shaking ever so slightly. Anxiety; she hadn't felt it for quite a long time now. A sad smile crept on her face and it disappeared the moment she entered the building.

Just as she was expecting, Maldonado was already waiting for her close to the elevator with an unfamiliar man next to her. His once brown hair was now turning silver, but his brown eyes were just as full of life as they had probably been decades ago. "Captain," Adriana greeted her with a small nod.

"I need you to talk to Dr. Tilden, our psychiatrist," she said.

It was a statement, almost an order. Adriana didn't like the sound of it since she wasn't her boss but there was something else she found strange about this. "You are aware of the fact that I have just been released from a psychiatric institute, right?"

"We don't need a proper evaluation from him, Miss Norton," she explained. "All I want is you talking to him."

Adriana turned to the psychiatrist. "Don't take it as an offense, Dr. Tilden, but I don't care. I'm not a cop, I don't work here therefore I believe I have absolutely nothing to do with you."

"It isn't your decision."

"Captain, you have already made me live at Kennex's place."

"Let me make this perfectly clear," she said forcefully, taking a step closer to her. "I know absolutely nothing about you, Miss Norton, and this way at least John can keep an eye on you. This is also the reason why you have to be with them during the day. Until I know for sure you are not a time bomb that can explode any second, you will have to do as we say."

She meant it; she meant every single word and she was rational. Captain Maldonado only wanted her to go through these things to help in some way therefore Adriana had to be cooperative. After all they hadn't arrested her for murder. "So you want me to talk to him? Fine," she agreed.

Captain Maldonado raised an eyebrow at her. "Just like this?" she asked.

The younger woman nodded. "Just like this."

She and the psychiatrist were then guided to a quiet room, but on the way there Adriana noticed a brunette whose eyes were following the two of them. Whatever her reason was to watch Adriana, she turned away the moment their eyes met. Inside they sat down at the opposite sides of the table, and the man still didn't say a word.

"I don't want you to record this conversation," Adriana told the psychiatrist after he put the device on the table between them.

Dr. Tilden shrugged. "I have to record this but I can assure you it won't become public," he said with a reassuring smile.

She bit her lip as she looked aside for a second, her eyes once again finding the security camera on the ceiling right away. "As long as it's in the system, they can find it," she explained as she turned back to him. "They wanted me to die but I'm still alive. I'm trying to stay under the radar, Dr. Tilden, but this recording can lead them to me."

"I see," the psychiatrist noted quietly as he wrote something into his computer.

"Let me guess: I'm paranoid," she said with a dry laugh.

"What makes you think that?"

Adriana laughed before she stood up and paced back and forth in the interrogation room they were in. "You got my files from the institute, I believe. Then there's the man I killed. I said he was working for my previous bosses but in reality, he really was a nurse. Yeah, okay, I have no real evidence but-"

"This means that you are aware of your condition, yes?" he asked. When she nodded, he went on, "What about your medication?"

"Mood stabilizer," she replied without hesitation. "I'm taking the pills I had taken before so I'll be fine in a few days. Look, I know the symptoms I have to notice in time. Everything will be fine."

Tilden raised an eyebrow and Adriana knew there was no way he would ever believe her. She couldn't blame him for that, though, because sometimes even she couldn't believe what she said. There was no proof in her hand and Kenneth hadn't found anything either. But she knew the truth and knew exactly how to get the evidence she needed.

Walking back to the table, stopping right next to the doctor, Adriana put her palm around his neck and pushed his face right down into the table. Tilden tried to stop her, struggled to get out of her hold, but with years of expertise in this, there was nothing he could do against her. She was aware of her advantage and did her best to make sure he couldn't get out of her hold.

"I know who I am," she told him viciously. "I can keep myself under control, even if you don't believe it now. You and Captain Maldonado can do and say whatever you want but I'll find a way to get rid of all of you. Until then," she added with a cruel smile, "I'll just get the best out of this time." After letting go of the man, she headed to the door, but turned back almost right away. "Oh, and keep your mouth shut about this."

Outside the captain and the brunette were standing in the middle of the main area while the older woman talking to some man on the phone. Adriana walked over to them and noticed it was possibly a hostage situation and the address on the screen was the one they had been at in the morning. After a quick research she returned to the others and cleared her throat.

"We don't have time for complains about Dr. Tilden," the captain told her without turning to her.

"Haven't you thought about why the Holy Reclamation Army would want to get their hands on a weapon like this by using hostages? I mean," she added, "it's weird. They could simply go and get it from the black market like every big organization does, without the cops even knowing about it. Trust me, it doesn't make sense."

Maldonado finally turned to her. "We can handle it perfectly without your help, Miss Norton. An MX will take you back to John's apartment now," she said, signaling a bot that stood near them.

Adriana stepped close to her, dropping her voice so it would hopefully stay between the two of them. "You are making a mistake, Captain," she told her. Everybody on that floor trusted the woman and she could understand why, but it simply wasn't right.

"Take her out of here."

The MX nodded and grabbed Adriana's upper arm to drag her to the elevators. "Let me go, you synthetic son of a bitch! I can walk on my own."

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**Once again, thank you for the reviews and everything! In a week or two I'll finally have some time to write before disappearing for another two weeks. Survival: University. They should make a special edition like this. Anyway, leave a review and tell me what you think! Hint: the next chapter will be John/OC-ish and she will finally tell him about what happened to her.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5 - Surveillance and rabid dogs**

Adriana glanced at the clock on the nightstand, shook her head and got out of bed. It was only three in the morning but she had to do something; she couldn't just lie around and wait for the rest of the night. Her footsteps were light, making no sound in the eerily quiet apartment as she walked over to John, grabbing his prosthetic leg on the way and carefully placing it on the edge of his bed before sitting on top of the man with her knees pressed against the sides of his hips.

The man opened his eyes but he wasn't fully awake yet since he was blinking quickly before turning to look at the clock. They didn't have much time so Adriana placed a hand on the side of his neck, her thumb running along his jawline before she kissed him. John froze for a second but for some reason he kissed her back and his fingers instinctively ran up her spine until she gently bit his lip. "Stop it," she whispered into his ear.

"You started it," he mumbled against her neck.

"We have a problem, John."

"I'm sure it can wait."

John didn't stop but he was probably too tired to think clearly. Or he thought he was still asleep and it was nothing more but a dream. She also knew he was a man and they were almost all the same when it came to sex. "I'm serious," she tried again, this time grabbing the side of his face to make him look at her. For a second she thought he understood it, but then his lips turned into a weird smile and his fingers found the worst possible spot on her body. "Oh, God, stop that," she breathed with a quiet moan.

"You don't want me to stop."

He kissed her again and for a second Adriana thought about giving in to him. After all, he was handsome and she knew he was just as turned on as she was. But she couldn't do it. It wasn't the right time and even though she loved the taste of his lips, she shook her head.

"Yes, I do want you to stop, John," she insisted. "Do you have a gun?"

At least the word 'gun' seemed to work because he finally looked her in the eye. "What?"

"Do you have a gun somewhere near your bed?"

"Right under the nightstand," he replied. "Why?"

"Is that the only one?"

"I have another one fastened to the bottom of the bed." His voice was now serious and she knew he was finally listening to her. "What's going on?"

"I'm sorry."

"For what?"

"Just play along, okay?"

"No, that's not okay. What happened?"

Adriana looked into the detective's hazel eyes, her fingers playing with his hair as she leaned down enough to rest her forehead against his. "I settled surveillance cameras on the hallway and another two or three on the windows. They are here for me but there was no other way I could warn you without them noticing," she explained quietly.

"God, Adriana, I'm sure it was only a bad dream, go back to sleep."

"John."

"I'm not starting this conversation, alright?"

"Please, believe me."

Before John could say anything in response an alarm went off, emitting a high-pitched sound that made him turn his head towards the door. "What the hell is that?"

"A highly sensitive shock and motion sensor I activated before I came out of my room. They are about to come in through that door so do you believe me now?" she asked angrily as she jumped down on the floor next to the bed. "Leg's on your right, I'll get the guns," she added before she disappeared.

Pushing one of the guns towards her feet so John could pick it up as soon as he followed her, Adriana crawled to the other side of the bed and aimed at the leg of one of the intruders. The man yelled in pain and stumbled back, while the other hid behind a wall close to him. After moving back to John, she quickly agreed with the detective that he would cover her while she went to take down both of them from another part of the apartment.

It was an instinct, something her body did almost automatically after all those years of training. John shot one of the men and she took this chance to fire at his neck, watching as the bullet went through it, leaving a bloody hole behind before his body fell to the ground. After that she used the moment when the other one aimed at John to sneak behind him. She covered his mouth and shot him in the back of his head twice.

They were dead. Both of them. This is what she had been running from, the dead bodies of those she used to work with. Once again she was the reason why they died, while blood, their own blood surrounded their bodies. She couldn't take it. This isn't what she wanted, it was too much.

Dropping to her knees she glanced at her blood covered hands then right at her gun. "It's me," she whispered. "I'm a rabid dog. I should be the one lying there. It's all my fault, I put everyone in danger. It would be better for everyone if I just gave up."

With shaking hands, Adriana picked up the gun and pointed it at herself. All she had to do was pulling the trigger. She couldn't waste time hesitating.

"Hey," John said as he walked over to her. "What the hell are you doing?" She didn't answer only raised the gun a bit and pointed it at her mouth. "Jesus, Adriana, give me that fucking gun!" John was now shouting but she ignored him. He almost died because of her. It wasn't fair. The detective crouched in front of her and tried to look her in the eye. Of course, she was avoiding his gaze. "Look at me," he said forcefully. When she finally did he went on, "Give me the gun, please. I have no idea what's wrong with you but I can help."

"No one can help," she said.

"What about your friend?" he tried. "The one who got you out of the institute?"

Adriana's lips turned into a barely visible smile. "They would kill Kenneth for helping me. I can't do this to him, John." The man slowly reached out for the weapon but she gripped it so tightly all he could do was putting his hand on hers. "It's over, there's no way out. Look at me, their blood spilled all over me and I don't think I can ever wash it off. It's all my fault."

She couldn't stop the tears but this way at least John could take the gun out of her hand. After he placed it safely on the floor next to him, John pulled her into a hug. "Come on, let's go to the bathroom and clean you up, okay?" Adriana nodded weakly and let him help her up. "The others will be here soon."

He sat her in the shower, letting cold water pour on both of them as he occupied the empty space next to her. Pulling up her knees she glanced at the detective whose green eyes were staring at her. "Why are you doing this?"

"What?"

"Why are you helping me?" she asked as she tried to wash off the blood from her hands. "You hate me after all."

John let out a sigh and pulled her into a hug. Adriana couldn't believe he did something like this but what he said after this gentle move was even more shocking. "I don't hate you, I just don't understand what's wrong with you."

"How do you think I became a lieutenant colonel at my age?"

"I don't know, you were good?" he asked quietly.

Adriana shook her head. "They drugged us, it worked perfectly on me and I was the one who took down the rabid dogs," she explained.

"Rabid dogs?"

Oh, yes, he had no idea what she was talking about. For her it was natural and she was used to talking to people who knew these terms. "All my comrades who got out of control," Adriana replied in the end.

John pulled her close, probably sensing that she was slowly breaking down. "If I asked you about those drugs, would you tell me the truth?"

Would she? Would he understand that she normally wasn't so crazy, at least not in the way he thought? Not like there was a chance she could leave without an explanation and for the first time in who knows how long she started to feel safe. It was crazy, that the very person she felt safe with was none other than John Kennex. He helped her so the least she could do for now was being honest.

"They chose some of us for our mental disorders," she started quietly, "I'm bipolar and they told me they can help with that. It turned out later that this medication helped by temporarily wiping out our emotions. Basically, they created controllable psychopaths."

John looked down at her with furrowed eyebrows. "Temporarily?"

"Yeah, it wore off after a while and we didn't get any unless it was a training session or a mission. Between those times our disorders often got worse and we needed our original medication. Do you know what it feels like to realize you killed your friends? You remember everything, but you didn't feel remorse at the time. And then it crashes down on you, breaks you and it becomes unbearable."

"You had enough?"

Adriana nodded in response. "There was some kind of an exchange program with the British SAS and I met a guy, Kenneth, who was shocked when he found out. Ever since then he tries to help me because I want to put that project to an end."

"So you're like a female Jason Bourne," John noted with a short laugh.

"What?"

"That's a movie my dad loved and made me watch as a kid," he explained immediately, "then I ended up reading the books. It's pretty cool, actually." Her confused expression didn't change so John only waved his hand. "Never mind, you'll understand after you saw it."

"I don't want to watch it."

"I'll make you, even tying you on the couch if there's no other way," he said seriously and she suddenly laughed. "Hey, you laughed. That's good."

"John?" Dorian asked after he appeared in the door. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine."

Adriana looked up, forcing a weak smile on her face when she looked at Dorian, but the next person who showed up was the brunette. She didn't look very pleased. At the moment, though, she couldn't care less about her feelings.

* * *

**Thanks for reading! Uhm... I guess after the last few days I'm way too tired to write a proper author's note, sorry. I hope you all had a good time :) **


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